Let's Talk: It's Your Dog's Birthday Party -- How Big Do You Go?

This Friday, June 8 (or thereabouts), my dog, Jake, will be turning 10. It's bittersweet, this change to two-digit age. It seems like he just walked in our door as a 6-month-old foster puppy rescued from a shelter, and now he's considered well into his senior-citizenhood -- or, to be polite, he's an "older" dog.

Some people appear very surprised to hear his age. "Almost 10! He seems like a puppy!" they exclaim as they watch him zooming past at the beach, or rolling on his back in a grassy park meadow. Maybe they're just being kind, ignoring the lipomas that make him a bit lumpy and craggy-looking depending on the angle. Still, it warms my heart to think this guy can pass for a puppy, or that it's not so ridiculous for people to say that, even if they're being nice. Now if we can only get him those 11 more years of life most Labrador puppies will have.

Puppy or old dog? It's in the eye - and heart - of the beholder.

Jake's birthdays have always been pretty low-key. We usually make a turkey-burger layer cake with mashed-potato frosting, and invite one of his canine pals over to have a slice or two. There are the inevitable candles one of the humans in attendance blows out, and we all clap as if Jake blew them out.

Sometimes we don silly party hats, and once he joined his friend Bella at a San Francisco sidewalk cafe. The humans ate a tasty dinner, and the dogs shared the cake. Well, Jake kind of dove right in while the diminutive, ladylike Bella looked on in dismay at his manners, as you can see.

We usually slice his turkey burger and mashed potato cake, and dole it out over the week. But Jake just dug right in, in front of the horrorstruck Bella.

The rest of my family isn't huge on birthday celebrations, so we keep Jake's similarly mellow. But an acquaintance who lives in a chichi part of San Francisco couldn't believe that a dog lover like me wouldn't go all out for Jake's birthday -- especially for his forthcoming decade mark. "Jake will not ever see another decade celebration," she said, shaking her blond bob in a "you will regret this one day" fashion.

She told me about a doggy party planner who made her little terrier's seventh birthday a "smash hit." She gushed about the event. "Sabrina had twenty of her best doggy friends at the park, and it was the most magical, fun party you've ever seen! Everyone came in costume!" Er, I guess Jake's invite got lost in the mail ...

This woman is not alone in her high-end doggy birthday bashes. Some dogs-only doggy bakeries welcome fancy pooch parties, and serve tasty morsels on tables topped with crisp white tablecloths. And dog party planners are starting to become less rare. Some will even arrange for a limo ride for Fifi and all her furry friends.

Puppy dogs wearing party hats by Shutterstock.com.

That's not my style. But if you want to go all out for your dog, there's no harm in that. If it makes you happy, it'll probably make your dog happy. (Although not too many dogs in my circle care about starched white tablecloths ...)

So we ask: How do you celebrate your dog's birthday? Do you even acknowledge it? Do you have a mellow celebration or a major fete? And, just curious: What kind of celebration would you have for Jake's 10th birthday, if he were your dog? Let us know in the comments! 

Jake photos by Maria Goodavage.

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Dog with Cancer Celebrates Life with a Fabulous Doggie Party

When Wendy Diamond got the news that her Maltese, Lucky, had only three months to a year left to live before succumbing to the effects of spleen cancer, she decided to make it an occasion to celebrate the life of one very special dog, rather than mourn.

Wendy and Lucky all dressed up.

Adopted in 1999, Lucky was an anxious dog suffering from separation issues, so Diamond readjusted her life so Lucky could accompany her anywhere and everywhere. As her name suggests, the dog was in the right place at the right time -- specifically, a dinner party at which Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant were in attendance. Acting on a stroke of inspiration, Diamond approached Grant and, after telling him that Lucky the dog was his biggest fan, asked if he would pose with the pooch. Since then, Lucky and Diamond have made a habit of posing with celebrities such as Kristen Stewart, Bill Clinton, and -- yes -- Snoop Dogg. The quest has landed Lucky in the Guinness World Records 2013 as the Most Photographed Animal with Celebrities.

Adorable!

Which is why Diamond decided to throw Lucky a very special doggie bridal shower. No one has put a ring on it yet, but Diamond is certain Lucky will have a partner for her July 12 wedding. Diamond jokes that since Lucky will be getting married in New York, where gay marriage is legal, Lucky is totally open to wedding another lady dog. Or even a cat! Either way, every bride-to-be needs a fun bridal shower, and Lucky's was exactly that!

Lucky peruses the party.

Congrats to the Lucky lady.

Dressed in a pink dress, Lucky gathered with 32 guests and their dogs -- with champagne, cupcakes, sandwiches, and tea -- to celebrate in style while raising awareness for Animal Fair, a charitable group Diamond founded in 1999 to assist animals in shelters. 

Though it may be bittersweet, we would like to congratulate Lucky and wish her the very best!

Story via msnbc.com, photos via the Wendy and Lucky Diamond Facebook page

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Dogster’s Picks of the Week: Holiday Party Edition

Who’s ready for Christmas?! I’m … not. But I’m working my butt off this week to get there. With nearly all of my shopping done, I finally have some time to figure out what my dog and I will be wearing for Christmas dinner.

This year, we’ve been feeling inspired by all of the great vintage fashion floating around, so we’re going a little retro/classic. Have no idea what you’ll be wearing to dinner? This week’s Dogster Picks ought to help you figure that out!

1. Kettle Corn Dress in Sunset — I’m a big fan of Mad Men‘s incredible vintage style — who isn’t? I plan on looking Betty Draper fabulous in this lovely dress.

2. Super Smoky Strand — Super smoky and super sexy. This necklace will look just as amazing on Christmas evening as it will on New Year’s Eve.

3. Dalmatian Oversized Faux Fur Coat — It’s a little Cruella De Vil, but puppy slaying aside, am I the only one who thought she had a great sense of fashion?

4. Frenchy Platform Pump — I love the bow-like detail on these hot pumps. It’s like a present on your feet!

5. Santa Baby Dog Duvet — My dog likes to get comfy while we open presents. This year, he’ll be getting comfy on this Molly Mutt dog duvet (but he doesn’t know it yet. shhh .. )

6. Orbee-Tuff Holiday Bulb Dog Toys — Keep your pooch entertained while you’re off celebrating with these chewy and adorable light bulb toys.

7. Urban Stripe Scarf — What’s more classic than a candy cane scarf? Your dog is going to get plenty “How cute!” comments when he arrives in this.

8. Buffalo Check Collar — Looking for super stylish holiday wear? Look no further than this buffalo check poinsettia flower collar.

9. Bocce’s Bakery Treats — Just like everyone else, your dog will want some holiday treats. Keep them healthy with Bocce’s Bakery treats in gift-worthy packaging.

10. Martha Stewart Snowflake Sweater — There’s something very retro about holiday sweaters. Stay with the vintage theme by dressing your dog in this snowflake sweater.

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New breeds party down in New York

Six new breeds are eligible to compete this year at the 135th Miss Canine Amer, um, Westminster Kennel Club show, bringing the total number of breeds and varieties that can be seen there to 179.

At this rate, they’re going to have to expand the show to three days or move it to Yankee Terrier Stadium. (Can someone tell me why New York doesn’t have any domed stadiums?)

The breeds making their debut at the Garden are Bluetick and Redbone Coonhounds, Icelandic Sheepdogs, Boykin Spaniels, Cane Corsos and Leonbergers. I was fortunate to meet several of these breeds and talk to their people at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship show in Long Beach over the past few years. Here’s a brief introduction to them. Look for the first three in Group competition tonight.

Bluetick Coonhound, Hound Group

Picture a hound with a dark blue, thickly mottled coat, dotted with black spots on his back, ears and sides; droopy black ears; tan markings over his eyes and on his cheeks; and dark red ticking on his lower legs, paws, chest and beneath his tail. That’s a Bluetick Coonhound, formerly a color variety of the English Coonhound before becoming recognized as a distinct breed with the United Kennel Club in 1946. The one who caught my eye at the Eukanuba show back in 2006 was Jebbie, more formally known as OTCH UUD Smokin’ Bullet Jebediah Blue UDX3 VER Bh (NAPWDA Cadaver/SAR). He was there to compete in the National Obedience Invitational and was named third runner-up. Yes, really! A coonhound placed fourth in a national obedience competition. In addition to his hard-earned talents in the obedience ring, Jeb has been a search and rescue dog (his preferred job) and is the Boise Parks and Recreation Spokesdog. I’ve stayed in touch with Jeb’s owner, Paula McCollum of Boise, Idaho, and she says she was first attracted to Blueticks because of their striking markings, but she has come to love their loud bays and goofy hound personalities. In the field, the Bluetick is a cold-nosed hunter with a big bawl mouth (a long, drawn-out bark). With family, they are highly affectionate and loyal, not to mention super couch companions. They are not the easiest dogs to train, as McCollum will attest, but she says that even when Jeb is being naughty, he’s pretty darned cute.

Redbone Coonhound, Hound Group

I love a good red dog. It must be my Scottish and Irish ancestry. Red hounds came to the U. S. with Scottish and Irish immigrants, and they became the ancestors of the Redbone, a hound with a rich, deep red coat. The dogs that were probably used to create the breed also included Bloodhounds and Foxhounds. Like every hound, the Redbone has a pleading expression with dark brown or hazel eyes and, of course, a sweet voice that carries over long distances, whether he is working in swamps, mountains or plains. Redbones are cold-nosed dogs, meaning they are good at finding and following old tracks with little scent. Redbones are probably the most easygoing of the coonhounds, not that that means a lot. They still need lots of exercise and a patient trainer. My friend Kathleen Samuelson has become a fan of the breed, and her Syd (Ch. Tree Rizin’ Maine Edition) took Best Opposite Sex at the 2010 National Championship show.

“This breed is just awesome,” Samuelson says. “They can be totally goofy one minute, then disarm you with their empathy and intelligence the next. They do everything with gusto, whether they’re lazing around on the couch, vying for our attention with kisses and snuggles, or focusing intently on the scent of an animal that has just made its way across our wooded property. They have found a very special place in our hearts.”

Icelandic Sheepdog, Herding Group

This hardy Nordic breed is said to have come to Iceland on the longboats of early Viking settlers. I am never sure just how much I believe of romantical-sounding breed histories (Dachshunds in ancient Egypt! Really?), but this one is kinda plausible. At any rate, the Icelandic Sheepdog has the typical prick ears, curled tail, thick coat and barkful nature of his Spitz relatives. I talked to a woman about the breed at the 2009 AKC/Eukanuba show, and I am sorry to say that I don’t have her name recorded anywhere in my notes. Based on our chat, though, the breed has been brought from near-extinction in the 1950s, with only about 50 dogs left, to a current population of more than 800 in the U. S. alone. Icelandic Sheepdogs are cheerful, friendly, curious and playful, not to mention self-cleaning. Their coat of many colors sheds dirt (also hair, of course) and doesn’t require frequent bathing. What’s the Icelandic like to live with?

“He’s the best dog. He’s very smart. I take him running every single morning and he goes with me off lead. He won’t approach another dog if I tell him no, and he waits to cross streets until he’s instructed. He really loves children. They typically bark a lot, but we heavily discouraged barking and we won that battle.”

Just remember that you can’t go out and buy an Icelandic puppy and have him behave that well all on his own. To get to that level of behavior takes lots of socialization and training, not to mention surviving the one- to two-year adolescent phase.

Next: the Boykin Spaniel, Cane Corso and Leonberger.

Photo credits: Bluetick, Paula McCollum; Redbone, Kathleen Samuelson; Icelandic Sheepdog, www.icelanddogs.com

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Book Review: Let’s Have a Dog Party

October 15, 2008

I was puzzled as to why Ingrid Newkirk, founder and president of PETA, would write a book about dog parties. After all, it’s well known that PETA’s president opposes pet ownership. As she told Newsday (Long Island’s newspaper), “In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.”

So why write a book about dog parties? If it’s better for dogs to live without human intervention, why in the world would she promote parties? All you have to do to answer this question is to glance at a few pages. Ingrid Newkirk, who has described herself as a “publicity slut,” wrote a book designed to appeal to dog consumers, the type who dress our dogs in clothes, take them on vacations, and throw parties for them, in order to push her anti-pet agenda … on us of all people. I believe it’s her desire to chastise this type of fully involved ‘pet parent’ into shame by means of this book. The cute cover photo of a dog with some balloons and confetti, the pink and green design, and the celebrity endorsements have probably enticed a few dog owners to buy the book. But then you begin to read it, and you come across the activist language that reveals Newkirk’s real agenda.

The entire first chapter is about how to praise your dog verbally. I’m not sure what this has to do with a book on dog parties, but it’s rife with insults and harsh judgments against people who carry their dogs in carriers, English speakers who don’t speak another language, and people who try to mimic Newkirk’s English accent. At the end of the chapter is a list of words you can say to your dog to tell the dog you love him/her. It occurs to me that if Newkirk really understood the people she’s writing for, she would know this entire chapter is superfluous.

More evidence of this struck me as I read Newkirk’s account of how a fellow PETA staffer’s dog enjoyed rolling around in anything dead. (She’s a dog, Ingrid. They all do.) Newkirk advises that we give the dog what he or she wants (Newkirk claims that she herself goes to the beach and collects smelly things like “decomposing crab limbs and fish spines” and mails them to the dog’s owner, so she can let the dog roll around in them. Her point is to find out what your dog REALLY wants to do when deciding what sort of party to throw. As Newkirk puts it, “Is there some unfulfilled talent, wish or pleasure that it is your duty, as the controller of your dog’s almost criminally restricted life, to ferret out of her?” Among the things she suggests that your dog might like is “winking.” I’m not kidding. It’s on page 28.

Sprinkled throughout this book are shocking stories of animal abuse, which really put me in the mood for a party. Also curious was her advice to warn any human guests who suffer from migraines that a dog party is not “a peaceful and sedate affair that one might expect in a library,” (does anyone expect it to be?) and encouraging hosts to tell human guests to wear overalls (because jumping and slobbering are encouraged). She spends several pages raving about a couple of famous mechanics who do a radio show, because, among other things, they advise listeners to go buy another car if their dog exhibits fear of riding in the current one. The author proves, page after page, that she has no idea what people who throw dog parties are like, or what their relationships with their dogs is like.

There’s lots of circling away from the topic of the book – which is parties – with such diversions as recommended hotels, hiking tips, movies that dogs might like, what religion a dog might be, why the symbol for the heart doesn’t look like a human heart, what Christopher Columbus thought of Chihuahuas, and a 30-question quiz to find out if you’re the type of pet owner you “ought” to be. The list, predictably, reads like it’s speaking to an animal activist, not a real pet owner. It includes such statements as, I never leave my dog overnight at the veterinarian, I will not make noise when my dog is trying to sleep, I will never make my dog get off the furniture, and I have provided for my dogs in my will. Predictably, there is a plea to make a donation to PETA.

Newkirk’s obvious contempt for dog owers – even as she tries to write a book for them – is evident in such passages as these:

When talking to your dog, “sit on the floor so your dog doesn’t have to look up at you for once and suffer compressed dics in her neck.”“Remember that nasty animal experimentor Pavlov?”“Party hats should not be worn by adult humans or dogs of any age.”“Be clear that at this party … there will be no reprimands, harsh words or other improprieties.” Evidently, if a dog fight breaks out, Newkirk would choose let the dogs kill each other naturally, rather than employing any of that icky human intervention.

She gives practical ideas for invitations, such as making dog bone invitations (she then provides instructions for buying construction paper and cutting it into bone shapes … does anyone really need instructions for this?).

In the Guest List section, Newkirk states that ”a hound would be happiest if the rest of the world spontaneously combusted, leaving just the two of you alone together.” Okay, a) why is this statement in a book about parties, and b) wouldn’t you think Newkirk would refrain from using language that reminds anyone of her staffer, Bruce Friedrich’s famous quote, “I think it would be a great thing if, you know, all these fast food outlets and slaughterhouses and laboratories and the banks that fund them exploded tomorrow”?

The rest of the book is about the same: random ramblings about stupid dog owners, stupid humans in general, the horrible treatment of animals (by people and organizations other than PETA, of course), and tales the good deeds of PETA, an organization that financies terrorism and openly opposes animal ownership of any kind. At one point, she recommends gifts for dogs, including one – permancy – in which she chides us, “It is the look in the eyes of every dog and cat who has been dumped at a shelter, while they watch their person walk out the door. And not compe back. Ever.” This from an organization which euthanizes more than 90% of the pets it takes in.

The bottom line is that like everything PETA touches, this book is filled with concepts of a loving pet/owner relationship that Newkirk herself does not believe in, and is designed to lecture, shame, self-aggrandize and most of all, separate you from your money. My advice? Take a long walk with your dog and keep your $12.95.

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